Neither Doncic nor Petrovic: this is the only player who left Real Madrid and won an NBA ring

Carl Herrera played one season in Europe before making his NBA debut. He spent the 1990-91 season in the Spanish capital wearing the iconic white Real Madrid jersey. Previously he had been drafted as a second round pick by the Miami Heat, one place after the Bulls acquired Toni Kukoc in the 29th spot but on draft night he was traded to the Houston Rockets, and with the Texans he made his NBA debut in 1991.

The first Venezuelan player ever to play in the NBA, Herrera was born in Trinidad and Tobago but grew up in the suburbs of Caracas. He played four seasons with the Rockets and won two rings (1994 and 1995) and has been selected as one of the franchises best players of all time. He was a power forward with energy and dirty work on a team led by Hakeem Olajuwon, who gave Herrera the nickname by which everyone knew him in the franchise: Amigo.

In 260 games with the Rockets, he averaged 6 points and 4.3 rebounds in almost 20 minutes per night on the court. He then played for the Spurs (three years) and left the NBA with one last attempt (1998-99) in a season shortened by the lockout with the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets. He then ended his playing days and tried his hand as a player in Venezuela and is currently head coach with the Llaneros de Guarico in his homeland.

Serge Ibaka, a similar case

Carl Herrera spent one season with Real Madrid and then became an NBA champion, something no other player has done.

There is however only one other similar case, with a caveat: Serge Ibaka played for Manresa, left for the NBA in 2009 and stayed in the US until 2023. But he took a break during the 2011 lockout, and spent several weeks at Real Madrid, the club he returned to this past summer. So technically Ibaka also moved from Real Madrid to the NBA and was later a champion (in 2019, with the Toronto Raptors). But his first stint at Madrid came as an NBA player and really was only a temporary arrangement.

Many players have gone on to the NBA after playing with Real Madrid, and now most big European teams see players move Stateside but this is more of a recent phenomenon.

Making the first reverse journey was Larry Spriggs and he was the first NBA champion to sign with Real Madrid: he won the 1985 championship with the Lakers and played one year (1986-87) in Madrid. In the Spanish capital, Spriggs averaged 21.1 points and 5.7 rebounds but was not as decisive as expected and later left for Turkey.

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